Temple Fugate, the Clock King, was an efficiency expert with a grudge against Mayor Hill.

History

A professional efficiency expert, Temple Fugate was advised to deviate from his schedule for once in his life by future Gotham mayor, Hamilton Hill, only to have an unfortunate accident delay his arrival to an important court date and cause the financial ruin of his company. Swearing revenge because he believed Hill had done it on purpose, Fugate returned seven years later, now going by the name "Clock King", causing havoc and running afoul of Batman. However, Fugate had prepared himself well for this by studying news footage of Batman and learning his every move, making him a worthy adversary.

Fugate in his early criminal career.

Fugate's vendetta against Hill eventually lead to him tying the mayor to the hands of a huge clock to crush him when they reached 3:15, but Batman intervened and fought Fugate inside the wheels of the clock tower. In the ensuing fight, Fugate accidentally jammed the wheels with his sword, causing a wreckage, and he vanished. Batman was certain that they would cross paths again.[1]

Fugate later returned unharmed in the guise of a butler and assistant named Harold to a reclusive scientist, Dr. Wakati, who was studying time manipulation. This gave Fugate the opportunity to steal the prototype time manipulation device which allowed him to maneuver untouched and unseen in Gotham. He tried several times to exact his revenge on Hill with his new weapon, but Batman and Robin were able to acquire an identical machine from Wakati and foil Fugate once again. Fugate was then sent to Stonegate Penitentiary.[2]

Sometime after his release from Stonegate, Fugate was enlisted by Task Force X for his organizational skills when they snuck into the Justice LeagueWatchtower. Specifically, he designed much of the overall mechanics of the actual plan including the timetable of events, which included the compromise of some extra time allotted in the schedule to allow the agents some flexibility. In this role, he also acted as sort of a mission controller; providing status updates and guiding agents in the field in which he operated with his usual rigid efficiency. When last seen Fugate was still a member of Task Force X, and what happened to him following the end of Project Cadmus is unknown.[3]

Background information

Several characters have been known as "The Clock King" over the years, though Temple Fugate was only marginally based on them. The original Clock King, William Tockman, was an enemy of Green Arrow.

The Clock King appeared in several issues of the second volume of The Batman Adventures comics, where it was revealed that he rigged the Gotham mayoral election which ousted Hill and elected the Penguin into office.